Holy Great Martyr Euphemia in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

We encountered the Holy Great Martyr Euphemia again on July 11. Today, too, the Church places her before us as an example, both because of her great contest and because of her Orthodox phronema, to such an extent that God willed, in her church and through her blessings, especially through her venerable relic, to give an answer to the question that had arisen at the Fourth Ecumenical Synod, as her sacred Synaxarion also relates. Her contest was such that it revealed that beneath the “weakness of the female sex,” as the Hymnographer notes, there was a courageous and valiant heart before which — to borrow a phrase from the historian Ioannis Philemon, which he wrote about the heroine of 1821, Laskarina Bouboulina — “the cowardly were put to shame, while the brave withdrew.” Indeed, even the great ascetic, Elder Paisios, when the Saint appeared to him in a vision on Mount Athos in 1987, as we had the opportunity to note on July 11, marveled at how a young girl endured such great tortures and, moreover, encouraged the other martyrs, as their leader, to endure them as well.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 16

The Month of September

Day 16

17. To the Lazy

(From the Life of Saint Dorotheos the Desert Hermit. Menaion, September 16.)

Lazy and pampered people ordinarily say: “Ah, how difficult things are for me! No one appreciates my labors! God alone sees them! I must endure,” and so forth. Yet when you look at such a person, you find that he does almost nothing, while at the same time he enjoys delicacies and, worst of all, gives neither himself nor others any peace. What can we say for the instruction of such people? How can we turn them away from their empty complaints and grumbling? First of all, we shall advise them to consider how the saints labored and worked, and under what conditions they did so; and, in order to turn the lazy away from their empty complaints and grumbling, we shall point out how the saints regarded their labors and how they viewed them.

Homily on the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross (St. Andrew of Crete)

Introduction

This homily is attributed to Saint Andrew, Archbishop of Crete, also known as Andrew of Jerusalem (ca. 660–740), and is preserved here from Manuscript No. 5 of the Skete of Kavsokalyva. It was delivered for the feast of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross, celebrated on September 14. The feast commemorates the finding of the Cross of Christ and its solemn exaltation before the Christian people, and the homily reflects this theme by presenting the Cross as both the instrument of Christ's Passion and the source of humanity's salvation.

The sermon is characterized by an extended sequence of rhetorical praises of the Cross. Saint Andrew moves from its significance in the Passion of Christ to its biblical prefigurations, drawing extensively upon events and images from the Old Testament—Jacob, Abraham and Isaac, Moses, the bronze serpent, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the prophets—to demonstrate how the mystery of the Cross was foreshadowed throughout Scripture. He then turns to the many blessings associated with the Cross, describing it as the hope of Christians, the weapon of salvation, the source of freedom, the guide toward heaven, and the means by which the curse introduced through the Fall is transformed into blessing. The homily concludes by directing all praise ultimately toward Christ Himself, whom the preacher calls the treasure of the Cross.

Holy Great Martyr Niketas the Goth in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

1. Saint Niketas lived during the reign of Constantine the Great. He was born and raised in the land of the barbarian Goths, beyond the River Ister. He had dealings with the barbarians, but he was a Christian, coming from a good and wealthy family. He was arrested by Athanaric, the ruler of the Goths, because of his faith in Christ, and after they had cruelly tortured him by beating him, they cast him into the fire, and thus he brought his martyrdom to completion.

2. Saint Niketas belongs among those martyrs who may be described as “fire-bearing conquerors,” since, as his Synaxarion relates, he brought his martyrdom to completion in the fire. He had the same experience as the three holy youths of the Old Testament, the same experience as Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, and as a multitude of other holy martyrs, with the difference that God, in His unfathomable counsels, did not save him from the fire, but permitted the fire to become the means by which he would bring his martyrdom to completion and, through it, be led to the refreshment of Paradise. Thus, concerning him, the words were fulfilled: “We went through fire and water, and You brought us out into refreshment.” Now he rejoices, crowned, dwelling in the Church Triumphant together with the other martyrs of the Lord, resting as though in a tranquil harbor and now interceding in love for us, who are still tossed about upon the stormy sea of this present life.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: September 15

The Month of September

Day 15

16. To Soldiers Going into Battle

(From the Life of the Holy Martyr Niketas. Menaion, September 15.)

You are now, God-loving soldiers, stationed in a place of military action, and perhaps today or tomorrow you will enter into battle with the enemies of our homeland. What, then, should you do now? First of all, look and see whether each of you has the Cross of Christ upon his breast. Whoever has one, let him say, “Glory to God”; and whoever does not, let him put one on himself immediately. Then, as you enter into battle, let each of you reverently make the sign of the Cross and, with firm faith, call upon the invincible power of the Cross of Christ for help.

Why do I advise you so earnestly to do this? Because I know that the Cross of Christ is a great weapon for a warrior in his struggle against the enemy, and I will prove this by actual events. Thus, in the Life of the holy martyr Niketas, we read:

“When the Gothic commander Fritigern went to war against Prince Athanaric, he made an image of the Cross of the Lord and, during the battle, ordered the cross to be carried before his ranks. And by the power of the Cross, it is said, the entire army of Athanaric was utterly defeated: some of the soldiers were killed, others were taken captive, and Athanaric himself barely escaped by fleeing.”

Homily on the Exaltation of the Honorable Cross and the Resurrection (St. Sophronios of Jerusalem)

This homily of St. Sophronios, Archbishop of Jerusalem, is a seventh-century witness to the liturgical celebration of the Cross and the Resurrection in Jerusalem, probably dating from 634 or shortly thereafter, during his patriarchate. Its title reflects the close historical and liturgical connection between the Exaltation of the Honorable Cross on September 14 and the preceding celebration associated with the Church of the Resurrection (Anastasis), whose dedication was commemorated on September 13. Sophronios himself reflects upon the relationship and changing order of these celebrations, noting that formerly the Cross preceded the Resurrection, whereas in his own time the Resurrection preceded the Cross. For him, however, the two remain inseparable mysteries of salvation: the Cross destroys death and the power of sin, while the Resurrection restores humanity to life and communion with God.  

 

Homily on the Exaltation of the Honorable Cross and the Resurrection

Oration 4 

 

By St. Sophronios, Archbishop of Jerusalem

The festival of the Cross, and who would not exult? The proclamation of the Resurrection, and who would not laugh for joy? For the Cross, fixed in the place of the Skull and having the Master of creation Himself nailed to it, tore up “the handwritten document that was against us”¹ and set us free from the bonds of sin—the document that our forefather Adam had signed when he transgressed the commandments of God—and enabled us to “exult” with gladness, “like calves released from their bonds.”² For where sin abounded, the grace of God abounded all the more.³

When Father John Kalaides Healed an Abbot With the Sign of the Cross

In the photograph, Fr. John Kalaides (right) with Fr. Nektarios, now Bishop of Argolis (left), during one of his visits to Neochori, Sintiki.

 

By Miltiadis Tsesmetzis, Educator

In 2002, we went with a group from Serres on a pilgrimage to the Sacred Monastery of Sagmata, where Father Nektarios Antonopoulos was then the abbot (and is now the current Bishop of Argolis, who also is the author of the book on Saint Luke of Crimea, who was a physician).

He warmly welcomed us and said:

“You have a great Saint in Serres: Father John Kalaides! Doctors had confirmed that I had a polyp in my throat. He made the sign of the Cross over me at two points, on the right and on the left, and the polyp disappeared.”

As he told us, he wondered why the Holy Father had made the sign of the Cross over him on the right and left, since he himself believed that the polyp was in the middle of his throat. When he went in for the operation, the doctors told him that the polyp had disappeared. When he asked them at precisely what location in his throat it had been found, they told him that it had been located exactly at the points where Father John had made the sign of the Cross over him!

The Exaltation of the Honorable Cross in Iconography (Photios Kontoglou)

The Exaltation of the Honorable Cross in Iconography 

By Photios Kontoglou

The iconography of the Eastern Orthodox Church is principally symbolic and dogmatic in character, whereas that of the Western Church is especially historical in character. There are many icons in which Orthodox iconographers also depict particular events in the history of the Church, or of Christ, the Panagia, and the Saints. Such depiction, however, is not a literal representation of an event. A liturgical icon does not merely portray a historical event, but reveals to us through that event its eternal aspect.

Such icons, which depict historical events, likewise breathe forth mysticism and inspire compunction in Orthodox Eastern iconography, owing to the dogmatic character of this art, which immortalizes even historical events as salvific occurrences within the divine economy. The liturgical icon does not represent things or persons from the corruptible world of matter, but from the renewed world, elevating them into symbols.

One such icon with a “subject” (that is, a theme) drawn from history is the icon of the Exaltation of the Honorable Cross, which our Church celebrates on September 14.

The Universal Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The Universal Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross presents before us each year that event through which man entered into the Kingdom of God: the Lord's sacrifice upon the Cross. For, according to the Hymnographer, “On the Cross the Lord slew him who had slain us; having been put to death, He brought us back to life and made us beautiful, and in His compassion, because of the abundance of His goodness, He deemed us worthy once again to live in the heavens.” We shall point out below some of the aspects of this mystery of the Cross, through which we have also been saved.

1. The Cross of the Lord: History and Mystery

Approaching the Lord's sacrifice upon the Cross is therefore no easy undertaking. Although it has historical coordinates—it took place at a particular time and in a particular place: in Judea under Pontius Pilate, as we confess in the Creed, “Who was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate”—something that no one can deny, even if he is the greatest atheist, it nevertheless far surpasses what human senses and faculties are capable of perceiving: a man suffering under cruel tortures. The Cross constitutes the greatest of mysteries, because upon it suffers God who became man, God Himself according to His humanity.